The Decemberists at the LC

Thursday

Apr 21, 2011 at 12:01 AMApr 21, 2011 at 5:12 PM

Portland's most bookish indie rockers are back to the basics on their new "The King Is Dead," and it's about time. A return to R.E.M.-inspired folk-pop is a good look for The Decemberists after a years-long drift into increasingly awkward prog epics.

Portland's most bookish indie rockers are back to the basics on their new "The King Is Dead," and it's about time. A return to R.E.M.-inspired folk-pop is a good look for The Decemberists after a years-long drift into increasingly awkward prog epics.

Old-school fans who jumped ship around the time Colin Meloy started using "Mariner's Revenge Song" as his working template, take heed: Though they'll never recapture the untainted pastoral bliss of "Castaways and Cutouts," the band you fell in love with is back.